Other Skin Problems

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There are three categories for hypersensitivity (non-insect-bite related) skin diseases. These include food allergies, atopic dermatitis (a predisposition to allergic disease in response to environmental allergens), and contact allergies caused by...
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There are many problems that can affect a horse's skin--from insect allergies to fungal, viral, or bacterial infections. The skin is the body's largest and most important organ; it protects the inner structures of the body from the outside...
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It is quite probable that many people have never heard of chronic progressive lymphedema. However, if you have spent time with draft horses, chances are much more likely that you are familiar with the condition. This painful, debilitating diseas...
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Q: I have a yearling that has warts in her ear. They have grown so much that the mass almost fills her whole ear. She will not let us touch it, which is a problem for her halter training. Will the warts eventually go away, or shoul...
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Photosensitization is a serious skin condition characterized by "sunburned," crusty skin that dies and sloughs away. It is usually caused by a reaction to something the horse has eaten, but the skin problem does not appear until the...
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Q: I have consulted with three local veterinarians about the best way to treat ringworm. Each one gave me a different treatment recommendation. What is the most effective way to treat ringworm? ...
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Horses occasionally get lice, and a horse owner needs to know what to look for and how to treat these irritating parasites. Bill Clymer, PhD, of Amarillo, Texas (now a livestock parasitologist on the professional services staff of Fort Dodge...
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Some of the skin problems that can plague a horse in winter are ringworm, lice, and mites. Ringworm is a skin disease caused by a fungus, and many kinds are contagious to other animals and to humans....
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Fall deworming is important; winter is usually when internal parasites do the most damage and rob the horse of vital nutrients. By fall the worm eggs and larvae eaten during spring and summer have matured and are living in the digestive tract unless ...
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A wart is an epidermal (skin) tumor caused by a variety of different viral infections. Remember that the word tumor simply means lump or mass and does not always infer cancer. In medical terms, warts are typically referred to as papillomas...
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Approximately 100 Quarter Horse stallion owners have received, or will receive, a message that the stallion is a carrier of the recessive gene that causes HC, also known as hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA)....
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Dealing with skin problems, unfortunately, is part of having a horse. Since skin is the largest organ of the body, it's no wonder there's much that can go wrong. Designed to safeguard internal organs from external forces and to help maintain consiste...
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Today, it is primarily through Poco Bueno's bloodline that the recessive gene that causes hyperelastosis cutis (HC) has passed. In some scientific circles, the disease is called hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA)....
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The axiom, "You are what you eat" does have relevance to horses with regard to health and well-being. Although horses have evolved to eat plant material, not all plants are safe to eat. Some food substances directly exert toxic effects, while...
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If we have any doubt about a horse with lesions that look like HERDA (also called HC), we can test to see if that animal does have this disease. Usually it's easy to diagnose, once you've seen a few....
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I'd like to ask a question about my horse's skin problem--depigmentation. He is a 10-year-old chestnut Hanoverian gelding with dark eyes and eyelids. But now there is a pink spot on his left upper eyelid and I think it's getting larger. The...
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Many equine skin problems have not been fully elucidated (analyzed and explained) yet, but experienced veterinarians often will recognize a problem and confirm a tentative diagnosis, if possible, with an appropriate test. Owners need to realize...
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I have a 6-year-old Arabian gelding who used to spend up to about 12 hours a day on our fescue pasture. As a 4-year-old, he developed lesions on his three white legs on the cannon bone area that were crusty, raw underneath, very sore, and...
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We used to call it the "creeping crud"--a colorful, youthful label applicable to any gross-out skin disease the horse happened to have (and not to be confused with the cold-and-flu-like symptoms in humans that earned the same appellation)....
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We recently purchased a horse in Kentucky which we shipped to Montana to be a ranch horse. His coat is taking a beating with the cold, dry air. He has little hair on his face, and his coat is thin and flaking. Are there any supplements or...
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We've probably all had, or at least seen, a horse with an itching problem no one could quite figure out. In the roundtable discussion on pruritic (itchy) horses, veterinarians discussed just how to diagnose and manage these horses to keep them...
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Featured Adoptable Horse

Rainie

Rainie is a sweet, smart arab-appy cross who is eager to please. She is nervous under saddle but responds well to calm, kind instruction. She hasn't been ridden in years so will need a tune up, but she is rideable. No buck, no rear, no kick. ... Read More